WASHINGTON – An indictment charging a Special Agent of the Treasury Inspector
General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) with bank fraud and related charges was
unsealed today following the agent’s arrest in Nashville, Assistant Attorney
General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today.

The seven-count indictment returned earlier this week by a federal grand jury in
Jacksonville, Fla., charges Special Agent John Thomas Jr. with one count of
conspiracy, three counts of bank fraud and three counts of making false
statements to federally insured banks. If convicted on all charges, Thomas
could be sentenced to a maximum term of 185 years in prison and a fine of up to
$6,250,000.

According to the indictment, between March 1999 and August 2000, Thomas
conspired with others to fraudulently obtain approximately $106,000 in loan
proceeds from three banks in Jacksonville, Fla. Thomas obtained a loan from
each of the three banks in the name of Zan Tan Man Enterprises, a purported
computer service provider. Thomas falsely claimed in loan applications that
the company had more than $500,000 in annual revenue, several years of
experience, and six to eight employees. The indictment alleges that Zan Tan
Man Enterprises was actually a company Thomas created for the purpose of
obtaining the three loans and that it had no revenue, no experience in the
computer field and no employees.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal
Inspection Service and TIGTA. The prosecution is being handled by Trial
Attorneys Kathleen McGovern and Hank Bond Walther of the Fraud Section of the
Justice Department=s Criminal Division.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a
violation of federal criminal laws. Every defendant is presumed innocent
unless, and until, proven guilty.